April 23, 190S] 



A'.-J TURE 



593 



selves upon public attention, a desire to invcstig.UL- is 



furnislicd by llie cartli itself. Chili is now arranging to 



have a system of observing stations. Jamaica is speaking 



about the same, whilst the United States are extending 



what they now possess. I'hree recent earthquakes have 



awakened three differeni (iovernments to the fact that, 



althoug'h schoolmasters mav not flog their children, nature 



is not always as indulgent lo its people. Japan, in addi- 

 tion to establishing stations in Formosa, Saghalin, China, 



.Tnd Korea, has already more than looo observing stations, 



T20 of which have instruments for recording local shocks. 



For seismological investigations the 



Government of that country annually 



allocates looo/. to 5000/., and this is out- 

 side expenditure in connection with the 



chair of seismology, and concomitant with 



investigations of earthquakes in foreign 



countries. During the last ten or twelve 



years Japan has issued about seventy 



quarto volumes bearing upon seismological 



investigations. Russia has a series of 



well-equipped stations within its borders. 



For very many years Italy has given great 



attention to the movements of the ground. 



These are recorded at several hundreds of 



stations, 160 of which are provided with 



instruments. Austria, Germany, and many 



other States are also devoting great atten- 

 tion particularly to the collection of earth- 

 quake statistics. I fail, however, to see 



that these statistics, which are necessarily 

 . imperfect, will pass beyond the borderland 



of local interest. So far as I am aware, 



all foreign stations are subsidised by their 



respective Governments. Great Britain 



enjoys the cooperation of forty-five stations 



provided with similar instruments, which 



are distributed fairly evenly over the four 



quarters of the world. The names and 



positions of these stations are shown upon 



the accompanying map (Fig. i). The home 



stations are supported by the British 



.Association, the Royal Society, the Daily 



Mail. Mr. M. H. Gray, and other private 



individuals. So far as the recording of 



world-shaking earthquakes is concerned, I 



believe the British cooperation to be, at the 



present time, quite equal to a combination 



of the stations of all other countries. The 



last outcome in connection with observational 



seismology has been the establishment of 



an International Seismological Association. 



The central bureau is in Strassburg, its 



president is Prof. A. Schuster, and its 



general meetings take place once every 



four years. I am not aware that France 



has formally announced its adherence. 



The British Government, by subscribing 



160/. a year to the lentral bureau, has 



accepted a shelter froii a Continental 



;egis. For nearly fifty years the British 



Association has encouraged seismological 



research, but whatever prestige it may 



have gained, together with its attendant 



commercial and other advantages, these 



are passing under a new regime across the 



Channel. 



A Government of a country does not 



wish to seek abroad for .in explanation 



why telegraphic messages have ceased to 



flow. To confirm, extend, or disprove a 

 cablegram, a Government, a business house, or the publicof 

 :i given country would like 10 obtain information within its 

 own boundaries. When a country or a colony finds itself 

 cut off from the outside world in consequence of cable 

 interruption, that country or colony, together with other 

 countries, would like to have a ready means of saying 

 whether the interruption had been due to submarine dis- 

 turbances or to some other operation, as, for example, 

 war. Those who lay cables would prefer to have informa- 

 tion as to positions of suboceanic sites of seismic activity 



.vo. 2ccS, \ 01 . 7- 1 



from records made in their own country rather than those 

 which had been made abroad. When after great con- 

 vulsions cities have to be rebuilt, and there are many at 

 the present moment, it is natural that information bearing 

 upon reconstruction to reduce earthquake effects would be 

 sought for at the world's central office, and those who 

 supply information would in all probability supply engineers 

 and material. Insurance companies who wish to appor- 

 tion rates to risks when insuring against earthquake 

 effects might also think it best to seek their information 

 al .1 central bureau. .After an earthquake, when such 



-The fo!di .ind probable div 



companies are called upon to pay the insured, many 

 diflicult questions arise which can only be answered by 

 seismograms. Millions of pounds sterling are dependent 

 upon these records, and it is therefore important that the 

 same should be readily accessible. A seismogram, which 

 travels quicker than a telegram, may affect the Stock 

 Exchange. We no more require a central bureau to discuss 

 applied seismology 'than we do to discuss the construction 

 of torpedoes or flying machines. 



-A discoverv which, during the last few years, has done 



